This is the Delta Wing, a concept angling to be the new IndyCar race. It's lighter, less expensive to run, and only has 300HP. It also looks like the Batmobile merged with a land-speed racer and a rocket ship. Updated.

Yes, it looks very weird, and yes, it doesn't look like it'll corner worth a stink, but it's legitimate enough the IndyCar team owners have bought in, literally, by putting up the capital for the development work. So how the heck does this triangle-shaped Batmobile work? It's all about adding lightness and controlling the airflow.

Constructed of carbon fiber using recycled polyethylene, the car functions because of the weight: the entire car, including the driver, will come in at 1,000 lbs. Such light weight allows the engineers to have an even bigger impact on performance through the use of aerodynamics and that's the trick with the Delta Wing. The bulk of the downforce is placed further back on the chassis, which allows the front end to be lightened and narrowed, and rely on the rear of the car to provide stability while the front does the steering.

Full race simulation at Mid-Ohio Raceway demonstrating results from over 3,000 variables

According to engineers we spoke to, the thousands of hours of simulation show entry speeds in corners will be slightly lower, but unsurprisingly the top speeds down the straight will be faster. Remember this is on a car with only 300 horsepower. The car is half the weight, has half the drag, half the fuel consumption, half the power and the big reason the owners like it is it costs half as much as the current IndyCar chassis from Dallara. It's currently only a concept, but it's got strong backing and has changed a lot of thinking about what open wheel racers can be.